KABUL/ISLAMABAD (SW) – A number of Afghan migrants in Pakistan say they live in constant fear of being detained by police and forcibly deported to Afghanistan, in addition to lacking access to basic services.
Emal Habibi, one of the Afghan migrants in Pakistan, explains that many Afghans in the country live in fear of being arrested. He adds, “At any moment, Afghan families fear that one of their members might be forcibly deported from Pakistan. We live with this anxiety.”
Hadi Ghafari, another Afghan migrant in Pakistan, mentions that many Afghan migrants are suffering from depression due to poverty, unemployment, and the threat of forced deportation. “Many migrants have received migration cards from the UN, but these cards are not recognized by the police. Another issue is unemployment—migrants are not given any work, and economically they are in a state of paralysis,” he shared.
Meanwhile, Abdul Mutaleb Haqqani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Repatriations and Refugees (MoRR), has called on Pakistan and other host countries to allow Afghan migrants to return to Afghanistan voluntarily. He adds, “These countries should not use migrants as a pretext for persecution and should allow them to return voluntarily with dignity.”
According to the MoRR, since the beginning of the current solar year, 88,000 people have been voluntarily and forcibly returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Additionally, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that from September 15, 2023, to September 30, 2024, nearly 588,000 Afghan migrants returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan.
Some returnees, both voluntary and forced, also complain about unemployment and lack of shelter.
Rahmanullah, a resident of Nangarhar who was recently deported from Pakistan through the Torkham border crossing, says, “We had a good business there, but now that we have come here, there are no jobs, no shelter, and we are paying rent. Our situation is dire.”
Officials from the Ministry of Repatriations and Refugees state that they are addressing the issues faced by returnees from Pakistan.
IOM recently announced that the number of Afghan migrants in Pakistan has reached 3.5 million, with 600,000 of them living without residence documents.
